|
|
|
|
|
Your friend is committing mosaic plagiarism.
Jefferson says that slavery is a threat to the political liberties of the nation because slavery is unjust. It undermines the notion that liberties are the gift of God. He worries that God's justice may one day lead to a revolution in the wheel of fortune. "The commerce between slave and master is an exercise of the worst passions" (Jefferson, 288-89)
While she cites Jefferson in the last sentence, there are several original phrases from Jefferson that your roommate has failed to put in quotations, leading one to think that they are your roommate's words. The omission of quotation marks could lead your roommate to claim the idea as her own without intending to do so.
Jefferson connects domestic life with public politics. He asks, "Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?" Jefferson also fears divine justice for enslavement of Africans: "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever" (289). Maybe the safest route is to simply abolish slavery?
In this version of the paragraph, all of Jefferson's ideas are clearly cited, including quoted passages. (Note that, since both quotations come from the same page of Jefferson’s book, and they follow sequentially, it is okay to have only one page reference.) It is clear that your friend has come to her own conclusion ("Maybe the safest route is to abolish slavery?") from Jefferson's previous ideas.